Cruz calls it a career after 25 years with MSP

February 24, 2003|By Michael Jones

GAYLORD - After 25 years as an officer with the Michigan State Police (MSP), 13 of them spent at the Gaylord post, Sgt. Abe Cruz will be calling it a career at the end of the month with plans to take a few trips, concentrate on his golf game, do a little hunting - all before tossing his hat into the ring next year when he plans to run for sheriff of Otsego County.

"It's been a great ride with the state police," Cruz said with the perpetual smile on his face he seems to have with everyone he meets. "It was a dream of mine since high school to join the state police."

His dream had to be put on hold for a few years when he couldn't get into the police academy because he didn't meet the height requirement in force at the time. "They dropped it in 1978," recalls Cruz. "It was something when they told me they dropped it."

Advertisement

With the doors to the academy open to Cruz while in his third year at Sienna Heights College where he was majoring in criminal justice, he was ready to fulfill his dream of becoming a police officer.

Cruz was first assigned to the MSP post in Hart and later worked in New Baltimore and Detroit before transferring to the Gaylord post in 1990. "I'll be 47 and I love the area and I'm too young to call it a career," said Cruz of his plans to run for sheriff.

"We'll just wait and see what 2004 brings and hopefully I'll stay in law enforcement for several more years and then maybe that will be enough," Cruz said of the future. "With my 25 years of experience and the professionalism I have, I think I can bring something positive to the sheriff's department."

While professional plans and a love of the area look to keep Cruz in Gaylord for awhile, family also plays a key role in staying put for the time being. "My stepson, Josh, and his wife, Shanie, live here and my son, Adam, who works in Dearborn, loves to come up to Gaylord whenever he has the chance." Cruz also has a stepdaughter Rachel, who loved skiing so much when she was growing up in Gaylord, she now calls Vail, Colo. home.

Cruz, who was promoted to sergeant five years ago, also worked as an evidence technician in Gaylord and worked on the missing person cases of Nancy Green, Cathy Hawley and the murder of Katheryn Horn.

"I've made numerous friends in the community over the years and want to stay here. The community as a whole really supports one another and is always ready to lend a hand. I've seen it time and time again. This is where I want to be."